Having taught for more than thirty years, at sixty one it’s time to reflect and ponder over the makeover that took place during these long, sometimes boring, at times suffocating because of a redundant system but always exciting in class where each day you faced a new challenge.
The challenge didn’t come from outside but from within, when you faced blank faces after teaching with all the knowledge at your disposal, all the skill at your command and all the resources available to you, then came the knocking from within.
There were those sudden eruptions of insight which came as a flicker of light and developed into a beam with a passionate search for effective methodology, teaching aids, lesson planning, class management and search through Internet . All these things left some mark somewhere helping me to evolve as a contented teacher who was always willing to go a step ahead to make it better. The more you try, more you see, never reaching the end, this is the beauty of this profession. You are always a seeker, trying to find new ways, new insights while treading the path set by the people who never dare to tread it themselves .
The Edifice of Education is an effort to define education as understood and practiced by me .
E – Experience
D-Development
U- Understanding
C- Communication & Creativity
A- Application
T- Transfer of knowledge to situation
I- Internalization
O-Ownership
N- Nobility of character
Education is a natural and ever evolving process which when imposed and induced artificially not only loses its fundamentals but results in a society devoid of the intrinsic values that define and characterize education . In my coming writings I will take up each characteristic and go in detail of its constitution, development and execution as understood and delivered by me.
Thanks a lot Anamika for your gracious complements . Only like minded people with conforming ideas can appreciate and understand .
It would be great to hear from you Savitriji! Three decades is a long time…. and loads of experience. Perhaps you have witnessed the evolution of the domain across the years….and that is what makes it interesting to me. I would also appreciate it if you could share your thoughts on the evolution in terms of teaching the Abstract aspects of concepts to children. For example: what could be an appropriate age to start explaining abstract ideas behind concepts in the curriculum in school level education? How should we move in this direction? What methods did you come across during your time…..
For anything to evolve it has a beginning, middle and the end product in hand. When I started teaching I evolved as a beginner trying to understand the tenets of teaching learnt in B. Ed. and trying to implement them in my classroom teaching. It was like going back and coming out with little, or no success. There began the search for something which would come from within not from the books. As a result of classroom teaching and not the idealistic conditions assumed in theory. There I found the answer to my question. There are and were no perfect methodology for teaching. As you progress you evolve a variety of them which people try to separate one from other. A smart teacher uses a mix of them depending upon the situation. Teaching is as difficult as learning with just one difference. Students have to pass an exam but the teachers don’t. The day teachers are put to test they will know it better. For me if my students didn’t do well as per their potential it was my failure. This is what kept me going.
When it comes to teaching an abstract concept , there is no age. The beauty lies in giving the abstract some form,. For a small child anything he or she doesn’t understand or relate to is abstract. The concept of mother , father and other relationships are all abstractions but our behaviour gives rhem meaning similarly anything which doesn’t have a body has to be felt. Like love, empathy, kindness, Ander other concepts can also beade to feel and realize depending upon the age. It’s how you communicate that is what matters. Thats why communication skills assume such an important role in today’s complex world. I hope I have been able to answer your queries to some extent.